North Carolina Newspapers

Qiht Iflntttklnt press MigJtlanits Jllarxmian Entered at Post Office. Franklin. N. C., as second claaa matter Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press Franklin, N. C. Telephone 24 I JONES Editor BOB 8. SLOAN Business Manager J. P. BRADY News Editor MBS. ALLEN SILER Society Editor and Office Manager CARL P. CABE Mechanical Superintendent FRANK A. STARR ETTE Shop Superintendent DAVID H. SUTTON CHARLES E. WH11T1NOTON SUBSCRIPTION RATES Our=s Macon County Iran Macon County One Tear $3 .00 One Tear *2.50 ?u Months ........ 175 8U Month. 1.7S Three Months 1.00 Three Months 1.00 JUNE 16, 1955 Our Centennial 'Light, Stranger To Franklin's visitors, here for the observance of this community's Centennial ? WELCOME! In the mountain idiom of saddle-bag days, " 'Light, stranger, and come in !" As you join us in voicing our admiration and our gratitude to those hardy souls of another day who laid such sure foundations for the Franklin of to day, as we celebrate the first hundred years of municipal progress, we trust you will feel what we know is present ? a welcome in the very at mosphere. Thus words may be superfluous. We say them, though, to make s.ure that those who are here for the first time know that it adds a lot to our pleas ure to have them participate in our festivities. Those who have been here before and so have ex perienced mountain hospitality must know it al ready. As for our kinsmen and friends who have wandered away, but have come back home for the big event.it is as unnecessary for us to say the word "welcome" as it would be for a mother as she greets a long-gone son with hu^s and kisses." To all of you, from first-time quests to cousins and former neighbors ? It makes us happy to have you here. We hope you will tarry. And when the time comes that you must go, we shall bid you goodbye with the earnest hope you will come back again ? soon and often ! A Success Already Will the weather, the three days of Franklin's Centennial celebration, be goodv or bad? Will the crowds be large or small? Will the program be an outstanding success or a flop? As this is written, nobody knows the answers to those questions. But even if the weather should be bad and the crowds small and the program disjointed, in two respects the celebration is a success already. It is a success, first of all, because of the way it has demonstrated the unity of the people of this county. This is a Franklin celebration: the county observed its centennial 25 years ago. But Franklin and Macon County are a unit, a single indivisible whole. So the people of the entire county were invited to take part ? and how thev have respond ed ! The cordiality of the invitation and the spirit in which it has been accepted prove, once and for all, not merely that town and country are interde pendent, with identical interests, but that both the people inside the corporate limits and those on the farm have the good sense to recognize that truth. And the celebration is a success already because it is certain to. be authentic. A few false notes, perhaps, have crept in (that is almost inevitable in a project of this magnitude) : on the whole, though, it will have an unmistakable Franklin color and flavor, because it grow- out of Franklin's roots. Those in charge chose the much harder, but far truer, course when they ruled out professional direction, on the- sensible theory that emphasis should be put on the spirit of Franklin, on its lore and traditions, rather than exterior finish. So if the celebration should prove a bit amateur ish, that is because it is home-made: and if it ap pears home-made, that is because we were deter mined, from the outset, that it should not be just another centennial celebration, exactly like scores Thi* republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve It. ? Elmer Davis. of others, but something distinctively Franklin-ish. (What, indeed, could be more characteristic of this * community than that very determination!) 'Freedom of Religion Day ' It was a happy thought to follow the three days' celebration of Franklin's Centennial with "Free dom of Religion Day" on Sunday. A happy thought not merely because it is pecu liarly appropiate here, since mountain people al ways have so fiercely guarded their right to per sonal independence. It was a happy thought, too, because we are celebrating, among other things, progress through freedom. And freedom of religion is basic to all our other American freedoms. Those other freedoms, in fact, themselves have a religious background: they grow out of the con viction that every man has the inalienable right to the freedom to develop to the full all that his Creator put within him. And how long would our other freedoms last, once a man's right to worship God in his own way, at. his. own time ? or even at no time! ? were lost? When the Bill of Rights was written, it was no accident that the very first freedom it guaranteed was that of religion. And should we, in this diffi cult atomic age, let go of that freedom, it will be no accident that we lose all the others. Others' Opinions BIG DOIN'S OVER IN MACON (Sylva Herald! Those "bearded men" who have been slipping over the line from Macon into Jackson for the past few weeks remind us of the summer of 1951 when Jackson County men went all-out in growing beards for our centennial celebration, and remind us that next week, June 16, 17 and 18 will be Red Letter Days for Franklin, our neighbor town, as it observes its 100th an niversary with some mighty big "Doin's". The three-day pro gram of fun and recreation is designed to bring back mem ories of the past and to mark 100 years of steady progress and development by this, one of Western North Carolina's most progressive communities. Among the hundreds of visitors who will enjoy the occasion with the people of Franklin and Macon County, are expected several dignitaries, including Governor Luther Hodges, Senator Kerr Scott and Congressman George A. Shuford. Whatever success the celebration may have, and we expect it to be a big success, Franklin people can take much pride because of the fact that they have not followed the -plan of most towns and counties in putting on a celebration. No out side people have been employed to help stage the centennial ... it has been planned by local people and everything about it will be purely Franklin and Macon County. The people of Jackson are much interested in their program and we wish them much success in their big undertaking. MR. EDISON FORGETS (Wall Street Journal) The life of Thomas Edison, probably due to his intense powers of concentration, is dotted with stories of his absent mindedness. The classic of the collection, however, has to do with the afternoon he stepped down from his train at the familiar Orange, N. J., station. And the station manager, who'd had great experiences with the inventive genius, said: "Welcome home again, Mr. Edison. Say, you didn't leave any thing on the train, did you?" "Why, I don't think so," replied Edison, looking about vague ly and patting his pockets. At that moment his eyes rested on a window of the stopped train. Mrs. Edison, his bride of a fortnight, whom he was bringing home from their honey moon, was sitting there dejectedly. QUOTE FROM LINCOLN (Bennett Cerf in Saturday Review) Having just come from Lincoln country, the Great Emanici pator was very much in my mind, and I was delighted when MATTER FOR PARENTS7 I somebody told a story about him (credited to author Robert Yoder) that I never had heard before. Mr. Lincoln had bought a seat for a show In Springfield, and arrived just as the curtain rose. His eyes riveted on the stage, he thoughtlessly placed his tall silk hat on the seat next to him, open end up. Entered a very stout lady, who sank Into the empty seat. There was a loud crunch, and she jump up with a cry of fright. Mr. Lincoln ruefully rescued his hat, which now looked like a black silk pancake. "Madam," he de clared softly, "I could have told you my hat wouldn't fit you before you tried it on." ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE (West Bend, Wise., News) Clear-thinking people have long since becojne aware of the evils of Communism and the dangers of its attendant fellow travelers. However, we sometimes seem to forget ? or fail to emphasize ? those advantages which we have as a free people. We just accept them as we do our dally bread, our pay checks and our new automobiles. But that attitude can harm us greatly. We must remember that all our hard-won freedoms are here for us to enjoy because sometime, somewhere, men fought , and died for them. They died in the early wilderness days while setting up colonies when they were attacked by natives. They died in battle to win freedom for themselves and not (be slaves to a dominating overlord. And then, for generations, these hard-won freedoms were consolidated, defended against those who would take them away, and preserved for those still to come. STRICTLY PERSONAL By WEIMAR JONES Like any milestone that sharply marks the close of a period of time, the Franklin Centennial observance stirs memories. A hundred years! ? how brief a space, as history meas ures time! how vast a period, in terms of change! And since pictures of events and people and experiences are etched most deeply on memory when there is contrast, especi ally the contrast brought about by change, memories today are not for the old only; for this has been a century character ized by change, by a change that has accelerated its pace, year by year; so that, whether one be nine or ninety, he can not look back without being struck by the change-contrasts of this hurrying age. Memories, too, whether of old or young, are likely to grow a bit confused . . . like some thing seen in a dream. For so vivid are the pictures drawn from stories told us as chil dren, by parents, grandparents, or great uncles or aunts, it is easy to delude ourselves into believing that some incident at Seven Pines or in the Argonne, a conversation with an Indian chief in Franklin, the terror of the community when typhoid swept the area, leaving scores of new-made graves ... it is easy to delude ourselves into believing these things were our own experiences. So, strangely intermingled, are a picture of livery stables and hoss traders and one of the way the wind filled out that boy's white shirt as he <rode away on the first bicycle we ever saw . . . the memory of how gently the black hands of a slave borne home the gray clad body of the young man killed in northern Virginia . . . with the arrival of the train in Franklin drowsy Sunday afternoons, when seeing, and hearing, it come in was excite ment enough to last a week. Memories of moonlight boat rides on the Little Tennessee River, with banjos thumping and young voices singing . . . and of the thrill, and the ner vousness, of the first day at school (was it at the old Aca demy or in the Masonic Hall, or perhaps at "Knowledge Hill"?) ... Of sleeping, under the stars, ? in the back of the covered wagon, on Wayah Bald, . . . and of the shiny new car or the first anirplane ride . . . Of the bucket brigade that valiantly but vainly fought the ravenous flames of a Franklin ,fire . . . And of the first time we saw our name in print, in the local newspaper . . . Of an attitude approaching dis dain for the early tourists, who seemed "stuck up" . . . and the pretty girl, who came with them, so secretly adored . . . Of Franklin's only lynching . . . and of the joy of intellectual discovery when we found what we thought a new Idea ... Of sweaty days in the corn field . . . and of the first powered lawnmower ... Of the favorite old Indian hidden in the attic, so he could escape the "trail of tears" to the West . . . and of the sadness that spread over the town when word came that a beloved young man, gone West to seek his fortune, had died in that far off land . . . Of tacky parties and candy pullings . . . and of the first trip to a city ... Of the thrill that must have come to at least four Franklin generations on seeing, on returning from the first time away at school, the first faint grayish-blue of a mountain peak, off yonder ... Of sitting on a mountain peak and watching a thunder storm in the valley below . . . and of the first time Dad let us drive the tractor ... Of the fear of being laughed at as a mountain hick . . . and of the astounding self-assurance of youth ... Of portracted meetings in the old days . . . and of cokes between Sunday school and church ... Of walking silently, a little awed by the beauty of the night, and look ing at the Ridgepole that seem ed so close, in the moonlight, you could almost reach out and touch it . . . Calls Censorship Of Comic Books' Unconstitutional Sam Ragan in News and Observer Censorship of comic books is an unconstitutional method of combatting the problem of juv enile delinquency, the American Civil Liberties Union declared last week in a statement filed with the Senate Judiciary Sub committee on Juvenile Delin quency. The statement by the ACLU is particularly pertinent in North Carolina now in view of the 1955 Legislature's action in passing" a censorship law. "At this time," the statement says, "there has been no show ing that the circulation of crime comic books constitutes a clear and present danger." Unless such a danger is shown "and there are inadequate alternative means to combat this evil, there Is no justification for cutting into a basic right guaranteed by the U. S. Constiution, a free press unhampered by govern mental interference." The ACLU said "the danger of censorship" Is equally to be feared, and "to suppress books in the absence of a clear and present danger, even offensive comic books, is in violation of the First Amend ment. And the weakening of the First Amendment can lead to the undermining of our free in stitutions, which we want our children and their children to enjoy and respect." "To institutionalize the cen sor and his scissors is a real danger. Governmental censor ship, even in a limited form, has within it the means of 'de stroying the climate needed to nurture tree thought and ex pression ? the minds of free men," the ACLU statement de clares. A law banning . publications devoted chiefly to criminal news and stories of bloodshed, lust, and crime cannot meet consti tutional standards, the ACLU contends, and warns further of the bootlegging of banned books and the consequence of mak ing them more desirable. As for volunteer "watchdog committees," the ACLU declar ed, "Certainly individual mem bers of the community have the right to decide what they or their children should read, but concerted action designed to de cide the reading fare of the entire community constitutes an attempt to enforce conformity, a practice alien to the Ameri can idea of free choice and our democratic tradition." The Union also sees nothing com mendable in a comic book pub lishers code. "Although a single publisher may prescribe for himself any set of standards he may desire for the publication of material, a different situa tion exists where a significant segment of the industry agrees to abide by a code. Collective adherence to a single set of principles in a code has the ef fect of limiting different points of views . . The ACLU suggests, as we have suggested here before, that the problem of crime comic books is a matter for the par ents themselves ? "parental con trol over reading habits of their children." In my opinion the Federation of Woman's Clubs is making a serious assault on basic Amer ican liberties in its demands for book banning and- censorship in North Carolina. And the Legis lature showed a disregard for the Constitution in yielding to this pressure group. Even the man who introduced the bill, Rep. Sam Worthington, felt that vigorous enforcement of the law would mean its repeal. The men who are charged with en forcement ? sheriffs, policemen, constables, etc. ? are hardly the men with judgment to decide what we or our children should read. No one Is wise enough to be a censor. The North Carolina book ban ning law never should have been passed. It should not stay as the law. I News Making As It Looks To A Maconite ? By BOB 8LOA* Have the labor unions reach ed the point of diminishing re turns as far as usefulness is concerned. While I regard my self as being somewhat of a pro labor person, I am disturb ed by some of labor's recent ac tions. I wonder If such mea sures as the minimum wage law and the guaranteed annual wage will work against the gen eral welfare of the working man rather than for his common good. I feel that the leaders of tne labor groups must !i know this, but \ like a rulpr who remains in power by ; feeding the appetite of his subjects on military vic tories, they of fer these pse udo gains re gardless of the Sloan results in the future. Any person may ask how can a raise in the minimum wage hurt the working man? The ob vious answer is of course that it might set off an inflationary spiral which would rob the working man of his gains by increasing his living costs. Then, too, there is always the clanger that American products might be priced out of the for eign field. There is also a less obvious result, I think. To produce, you must have trained workers. To get good experienced craftsmen takes time. A man does not learn a craft in a week, a month, or even a year. It takes time to really master a trade. If the minimum wage is set so high, will industry be able to pay the apprentice wage long enough to adequately train men, or will partly trained workmen who pass as masters of the trade weaken the whole American production system? The guaranteed annual wage, it seems, to me, is going to make it even more difficult for the small factory or shop to continue to operate. Don't a great many workers some day hope to have small plants of their own? Such a dream will be more difficult to realize if a plant is required to have a large reserve in capital such as would be necessary to finance a guaranteed wage plan. We wonder if the workers at Ford plant were cautioned that they might be destroying their own chances of either working in or having a small business when they created this two edged sword? Do You Remember? (Loo kin j backward through the files of The Press) 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK Miss Mary Daniel, of Char lotte C. H., Va., arrived Satur day for a visit to her sister, Mrs. W. W. Sloan. Misses Pearl and Maud Barn ard returned home Saturday from the State Normal and In dustrial College, at Greensboro. Mr. Charles Bell left Monday after a two-weeks' visit here for his home at Fort Smith, Ark. He goes by way of Louisville and will take in the reunion. 25 YEARS AGO Miss Bess Hines left High lands Friday to spend the month of June with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Jussely, and family, at Mount Pleasant, S. C. ? Highlands item. Miss Hattie Brendle is at home from the central part of the state where she has been teaching. Mrs. George Johnston and little son left Sunday for a two-weeks' visit to Mrs. Johns ton's parents in Athens, Ga. 10 YEARS AGO Mrs. Marshall McElroy, of Spartanburg, S. C., is spending several days visiting her fath er, W. G. Hall, and Mrs. Hall, at their home on Bonny Crest. .Mrs. Russell B. Eaton, of Bos ton, Mass., arrived Tuesday for a visit with her parents. Prof, and Mrs. B. E. Fernow, at their summer place on Mirror Lake. ?Highlands item. Mi s. Lallie Sherrill and daugh ter, Miss Fan Sherrill, are spending several days in Knox ville, Tenn., with their daugh ter and sister, Mrs. Bill School ey, and Mr. Schooley. I